1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to well communication technologies, and more particularly to intelligent well technologies, although it is understood that this is a non-limiting generalization.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following descriptions and examples are not admitted to be prior art by virtue of their inclusion in this section.
Hydrocarbon fluids such as oil and natural gas are obtained from a subterranean geological formation, often referred to as a reservoir, by drilling a wellbore that penetrates or provides access to the hydrocarbon-bearing formation. In order to effectively and efficiently produce or obtain these scarce resources, many hydrocarbon wells today utilize intelligent well technologies to monitor specific wellbore parameters and downhole reservoir information such as fluid flow rate, temperature, pressure, and resistivity, among others. Based on the information obtained, the well system may be modified or altered to account for changes in operating circumstances such as formation flows or water intrusion, for example.
Intelligent wells, which can be used either on land or in offshore areas, typically include monitoring equipment and completion components (such as sensors and production tubing, among others) and allow reservoir fluid flow to be controlled without physical intervention. Intelligent wells may also have valves and inflow control devices that may be actuated in order to control the flow through a well system. Proper implementation of an intelligent well system depends on energy and signal transmissions between the surface and one or more downhole locations. Downhole connections for energy and signals within a wellbore completions may also significantly contribute to proper implementation.
FIG. 1 shows a simplified example of a conventional prior art well system with a well 100 and a borehole 110. The borehole 110 in this example is cased and extends through two reservoir formations, 60 and 70. The reservoir formations 60, 70 contain desirable fluid, such as hydrocarbons or water for example. The well system may contain production tubing 130 and one or more downhole devices 18, 19, provided to allow access to the production tubing 130. In a conventional well system, the downhole devices 18 and 19 may be set at the surface prior to run-in. Alternatively, an intervention may be performed after completion and the downhole devices 18, 19 operated via slickline or wireline. However, a conventional well system may not include any devices or conduits to transfer power or communicate downhole information to the surface.